Little Goodbyes
by poeticgrace
Summary: Rachel says goodbye to an old life as she prepares to enter into a new one. ONE SHOT.


A small girl with a big voice and even bigger dreams sat alone in a café one day, her ankles crossed properly and her hands folded neatly in her lap. Anyone who paid enough attention would notice the generous diamond sparkling on her left hand and the careful way her dark eyes darted toward the door anytime the bell chimed.

It had been a long time since she had seen him. Back in high school, he had been everything – _they_ had been everything. She had been so sure of her future then. She could have envisioned their life in New York together, their big wedding back in Ohio, the little boy who would look a little like her and a lot like him. But then she had grown up and he had taken off for the other side of the world and they had both become the people they were destined to be without each other.

And now, he was back in town to visit his parents and she was a few months away from getting married. Rachel knew that she shouldn't be nervous to see him. She had stopped being truly in love with him years ago, but part of her would always love the first boy who had held her whole heart. He would be the only one to ever do that because she had given a little part of her heart away to each man who'd come along over the years. It used to make her sad until she fell in love this last time. It was only then that she realized she was just making room in her heart for the man who would become her husband.

Time seemed to stand still when she looked up and saw him coming through the door. He was just as tall and awkward as ever, those eyes still sparkling and oh, so, familiar. She stood up and reached out to grasp Finn's hand when he stopped a few feet short of her. His hand still fit hers like it had back when they were all of eighteen and she couldn't imagine ever feel as perfect as that did.

"Sorry I'm late," he said softly, smiling as he held her gaze carefully. "My mom couldn't get Jack down for his nap, and he refused to go to sleep until Kurt showed up."

When Finn had first left for the Army, Rachel used to dream about him showing up at her doorstep one day unexpectedly. She'd be walking home from class and come home to find him sitting on the stoop just waiting for her. She'd throw down her bags right there on the sidewalk and fly into his arms. It was a girl's dream, one that would never come true.

"You have a son," she realized aloud. She knew it, of course, had seen the pictures on Facebook and in Kurt's phone whenever he and Blaine came to visit her in San Francisco. "I still forget that sometimes. It seems so surreal. How old is he? He must be at least two."

"Three next week," Finn said proudly as he fell easily into his seat. He pulled out his wallet to show her a family picture complete with his grinning little boy.

"He's adorable," she smiled fondly. "She's beautiful."

Rachel knew the story by heart. Finn had met Eliza while teaching English as a Second Language in China the year after he left the Army. She had been teaching in the room next to his, and the two of them had bonded over their love for baseball and ranch dressing. They were engaged by the time their contracts came up for renewal at the end of the year, and they'd moved onto South Korea to teach for another year. Jack had been born in a hospital at an American military base, and they were finally planning to come back to Lima now that Finn had landed a teaching position at McKinley.

"You'd really like her," he promised her. He looked at the photo for a moment longer before shoving his wallet back into his pocket. He then looked pointedly at her ring. "When's the big day?"

"May 10," she answered, reaching down absently to finger the generous diamond. "It's going to be a small thing, just my parents and his family. We're doing it in San Francisco since I can only get away from the opera for a few days. We're in the middle of a series."

Rachel had spent a few years on Broadway before she had suffered a devastating knee injury during a particularly difficult run on her latest show. She had taken a few months off to just bum around her fathers' house while she planned her next move before accepting an offer from the San Francisco Opera. She had been with them for three seasons now.

"Congratulations," he replied. "I don't think I've said that yet."

"Thank you," she smiled genuinely, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "He wanted to call to tell you, you know, but so much time has passed that it just didn't seem right. He doesn't say it, but I know that he still misses you, Finn. I really wish that you would call him."

Finn looked down at his hands and then up at his former fiancée. "Puck knows my number, Rach," he told her. "He can call me any time."

They both knew that he had no real right to be angry about their relationship, but it had never been that easy between the three of them. It wasn't as if she had chosen Noah over Finn. Fate had done that for her when Finn had left her for military life. Her temporary stopover in Lima had led them to spend some significant time together, and when she took off for California, he had been beside her in the passenger seat to be her navigator.

"We saw Quinn a few weeks ago when we went to see Shelby in Chicago," she said, changing the subject. "You should see Beth, she's such an adult now."

"We got together with Quinn the last time we were in New York," Finn retorted happily. "I still talk to her every once and again. She really hit it off with Abby. I wish she could have been here, but she's in Philly visiting her parents."

"Maybe next time," Rachel lied. They both knew there would be no next time. It still hurt her a little that he could stay friends with Quinn when he had never been able to do that with her. She wanted to ask him why but she already knew the answer. He had never loved Quinn like he loved her. "Anyways, the reason I asked you here…I've been carrying this around with me for a long time, but I think it's about time that I give it back."

She reached down and pulled a little velvet box from her purse. She slid it across the table to him. Finn flipped it open to see the little diamond ring he'd given to her senior year. "I can't believe you still have this."

"I wasn't ready to fully let go for a very long time," she admitted. She was ready now; this was their closure. "Thank you for giving it to me, Finn. I don't know if I ever told you that, but that was one of the most special moments of my life. I'll never forget it."

"Me neither," he grinned sentimentally. He snapped the box shut and tucked into the pocket of his coat. She was glad that he didn't insist that she keep it. It wasn't her ring anymore – it wasn't theirs. He glanced down at his watch and shook his head. "Sorry to cut this short, Rach, but I promised Mom I would be back in time for dinner." They both stood up at the same time, him reaching for his keys on the table and her for her purse off the back of her chair. "It was really nice to see you."

"You too, Finn," she echoed. They exchanged an awkward hug and then he was gone.

Rachel stood at the window watching him jog toward his car for a long moment. Whatever emotion she was feeling was quickly wiped away when her phone started to ring. "Hey, baby," she said as she headed out into the late winter afternoon.

"Thank God, my ma is driving me nuts," he complained. "And I miss you."

Rachel smiled to herself and then giggled into the phone. "I'm on my way to you."

_Fin._


End file.
